<p>^thank you tako. That gives me a lot of hope than the “quiet kid” can’t get into any good college crap by collegekid12</p>
<p>And just as a reality check, some of the most socially awkward people I know have graduated from HYP etc. Just stop to consider what the class of 2012 would look like if Harvard only accepted students with fabulous grades, fabulous scores, fabulous ECs, AND fabulous social skills…it would look like a class that doesn’t exist on any campus in the world. No school, including the Ivies, is looking for only one kind of student.</p>
<p>My brother is a nice guy, but not the most sociable person in the world, and he got into cornell.</p>
<p>Not all teachers are going to write “cheerleading” recs for you. Sometimes they honestly hint at or explicitly state their negative impressions, if any exist. There are “catch words” that convey lack of enthusiasm, lack of involvement, lack of sociability that are sometimes written. Sometimes, what ISN’T written is as important as what IS written by the recommender. To forestall any chance of this, perhaps you should make an appt with your rec writers and chat over topics that might make it on the page.</p>
<p>Ask them how they view you in terms of other students they’ve known. Ask them what areas you could have improved upon during your time in their classes. If there are many replies, then you’re in trouble.</p>
<p>If on the other hand, you can discuss good anecdotes that show your initiative, creativity, classroom influence, then you’re on the better track.</p>
<p>Good luck to you (and I knew a good handful of quiet types during my undergrad Ivy years).</p>
<p>Social skills don’t matter that much for college admissions </p>
<p>Social skills matter a great deal in the real world (ie after college) so you might have to work on them at some point.</p>
<p>
well no one is perfect, so I doubt that teachers are always going to praise students as if they are the best in the world. They are probably going to say that this student could improve in_______. No one is perfect. A “cheer leading” rec that makes the student appear perfect is seems way gaudy and exaggerated than an honest rec.</p>
<p>I also hope that colleges realize that actually going to college is an experience which will bring many shy or socially awkward kids out of their shells. I think that many high school students are not at their “social peak”, so to speak, and that the social growth that students experience while living away from home for the first time is very important.</p>
<p>^exactly. I actually think that my going to college will me more confident, less shy, and more independent</p>
<p>Exactly so, and good for you. That’s the kind of sociability most schools are looking for.</p>
<p>First of all, I think some of the assertions on what colleges want and don’t want in this thread are kind of ridiculous. Unless you know an admissions officer or have experience or familiarity in this area, you should avoid making such statements.</p>
<p>That said, colleges are generally looking for people who will take advantage of the opportunities at that college; clubs, organizations, sports, research, etc. I’m sure more social people join those than asocial or antisocial, and a lot of them were the same people that took part in activities in high school.</p>
<p>^I’m not social, but I join a lot of activities outside of school that people at my school don’t even know abou.</p>
<p>My daughter is definitely not the most social person, but she’s basically just a nice kid. She just hasn’t really found her social groove. There are so many now-famous people who were social outcasts in high school. Social scenes at high school can be brutal. Just because you haven’t found your social niche in high school doesn’t mean that you will be “anti-social” forever. Kids need to find the right social fit based on their interests and who they are. If your high school is not the place, when you start to make your way, on your own, out into the world, you will find a good “social fit”. I had a lot of fun in high school, and my best high school friends are still my best friends, almost 30 years later. But before we became friends, they used to pick on me, and it made me feel pretty bad. All of us got some sort of abuse from eachother, and I was no angel either. We laugh about it now, but I wouldn’t want to go back to the high school social scene for anything. Just be yourself, and good things will happen. If a college doesn’t like you for being you, then you don’t want to go there anyway!!</p>